Like Come, this album is a grower. It was largely panned as a bit of a commercial comeback, but when I listen to music on my PC I am coming back to it more than other albums. Why because its so cleanly produced, well done and it has all the Prince trademarks.

In a lot of ways Musicology to me is his first "Mature R and B spokesman" album, because its not from his innovative ground breaking period (1978 - 1988) or his tragic trend chasing period (1989 -1999) and TRC is more a presonal statement than an album, Musicology is the first album he plays it clean, simple uncomplicated brilliant Rand B and soul music with a rock song or two, a seductive ballad, kick ass funk and some fine falsetto.

From the tile track to the slickness of Illusion Coma Pimp and Circumstance, the joint sucker punch of The Marrying Kind/Man in yo life and then the brilliance of Cinnamon Girl, Musicology is one of his best and easily up there with its brilliant twin 3121. Apart from the 80s, I think the mid 2000s were a great period for Prince.

I agree that it's a grower. I've just recently come around to liking it. "Call My Name", "If I Was The Man In Ur Life", "Dear Mr. Man" and "Reflection" have just recently become favorites. On the other hand, I no longer like "Musicology" or "A Million Days" as much as I used to (those used to be the only two songs I loved on the album... now they're just ok).

I've never liked "What Do U Want Me 2 Do?" or "On The Couch".

I wouldn't call Musicology a great album, but it's a pretty good one. I'd prefer TRC, ONA, Xpectation, NEWS, 3121 & Lotus, +maybe PE over it, though. Still, it's better than MPLS or 20ten (imo (of course)).

[Edited 3/3/12 4:05am]

Adorecream said:

Like Come, this album is a grower. It was largely panned as a bit of a commercial comeback, but when I listen to music on my PC I am coming back to it more than other albums. Why because its so cleanly produced, well done and it has all the Prince trademarks.

In a lot of ways Musicology to me is his first "Mature R and B spokesman" album, because its not from his innovative ground breaking period (1978 - 1988) or his tragic trend chasing period (1989 -1999) and TRC is more a presonal statement than an album, Musicology is the first album he plays it clean, simple uncomplicated brilliant Rand B and soul music with a rock song or two, a seductive ballad, kick ass funk and some fine falsetto.

From the tile track to the slickness of Illusion Coma Pimp and Circumstance, the joint sucker punch of The Marrying Kind/Man in yo life and then the brilliance of Cinnamon Girl, Musicology is one of his best and easily up there with its brilliant twin 3121. Apart from the 80s, I think the mid 2000s were a great period for Prince.

Agree with U 4 about 90%....except; I really don´t like Marryingkind/Man in yo life and C.Girl

BUT I love the rest...yes even Life O`the party and ICP&C.

His best since TGE and a nice 4play 2 3121!! Yep, I love the 00´s from Prince!

Yeah, Musicology is a great one to play now and appreciate.

It has a great flow from start to finish and I kind of like the way it begins partying and ends in a reflective mood.

It also has a slice of just about everything Prince does well, too.

Apart from Life Of The Party I think it's a pretty decent album.

Loved his look back then too.

It's an extremely underrated album. He wanted to teach the public about music, songwriting, arranging and the true value of it all and I think he succeeded brilliantly. You can feel that he clearly spent time on this album.

musicology was one of the first prince albums i ever heard of, my dad had it when i was a kid and he would play in the car frequently, i remember watching the music video to musicology and it was one of the first prince videos i remember, 8 years later and i still listening to it, standout tracks are musicology, illusion coma pimp and circumstance, a million days, what do u want me 2 do, dear mr man, on the couch and cinnamon girl.

UnpronounceableSymbol said:

musicology was one of the first prince albums i ever heard of, my dad had it when i was a kid and he would play in the car frequently, i remember watching the music video to musicology and it was one of the first prince videos i remember, 8 years later and i still listening to it, standout tracks are musicology, illusion coma pimp and circumstance, a million days, what do u want me 2 do, dear mr man, on the couch and cinnamon girl.

Your dad had it "when you were a kid" - Holy shit I feel old!

I great little album.

I still think P would have been better off amalgamating Musicology, 3121 and Planet Earth into a killer 15 track album.

lauralevesque said:

UnpronounceableSymbol said:

musicology was one of the first prince albums i ever heard of, my dad had it when i was a kid and he would play in the car frequently, i remember watching the music video to musicology and it was one of the first prince videos i remember, 8 years later and i still listening to it, standout tracks are musicology, illusion coma pimp and circumstance, a million days, what do u want me 2 do, dear mr man, on the couch and cinnamon girl.

Your dad had it "when you were a kid" - Holy shit I feel old!

^^Same here And we´re talking about Musicology here!! What if we talked about the "real" classics???